Epress.am News from Armenia
The Special Investigation Service (SIS) of the Republic of Armenia has begun reviewing the case of Felix Gevorgyan, who claims he was subject to torture while in the custody of Yerevan Police Mashtots Division. Gevorgyan's attorney, Stepan Voskanyan, today informed Epress.am that the police officers accused of torturing Gevorgyan are being asked to give their testimony before the victim, and, until the SIS confirms or denies the torture, the court has temporarily suspended the criminal case against Gevorgyan.
Gevorgyan is being accused of theft. He was pardoned already once before, in the Court of General Jurisdiction of Ajapnyak and Davtashen Administrative Districts, by Judge David Balayan, on Apr. 28, 2012. The court ruled in his favor due to insufficient evidence against him. The prosecution appealed the verdict, and the Court of Appeal sent the case back to the lower court. According to the upper court, the lower court didn't explain the wording of the phrase "lack of evidence" and did not take action to investigate the defendant's claims that he was tortured while in custody.
Gevorgyan claims that Mashtots Police Division Chief Artur Gevorgyan, Deputy Chief Arkadi Sahakyan, and five other officers hit and tortured him, seized his house keys and passport, forced him to confess to the crime, and did so in the presence of witnesses, who were also subject to violence and made to sit in a prison cell, wearing handcuffs. According to the defense attorney, they are now waiting for the Special Investigation Service's conclusions. "If the SIS confirms the torture, we will ask for compensation; if not, we have to submit an application requesting to launch an investigation into the separate case of torture," he said.